Pottery casting machine



June 23, 1953 p; 1, ROBINSON 2,642,644

' POTTERY CASTING MACHINE Filed Sept. 20, 1951 2 SheetsSheet l P.l/ROBINSON POTTERY CASTING MACHINE Jl me 23, 1953 2Sheets-Sheet 2 FiledSept. 20, 1951 Patented June 23, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 7POTTERY CASTING MACHINE Philip Ivor Robinson, Derby, England ApplicationSeptember 20, 1951, Serial No. 247,409

This invention relates to the casting of pottery articles.

The object of the invention is to provide a form of installation inwhich the casting is performed under the immediate control of anoperator in such a way that a change-over can be immediately effectedfrom one size or type of article to another, without having to makeextensive adjustments or alterations to the means by which the liquidslip is poured into the moulds, and without requiring any measure ofskill in the operator.

The invention will be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a mould entering a pouringstation.

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing a mould [leaving the pouringstation.

A traveling chain conveyor It) is mounted and driven in any convenientway. It is proposed that the conveyor shall extend for some considerabledistance to carry the moulds through stations corresponding to varioussuccessive operations in the manufacture of the pottery articles. Forexample after leaving the station shown in the drawings the conveyorwould preferably carry the moulds along for a suificient distance toallow for the casting of the articles to the required thickness, andthen the moulds would enter a tipping station where the surplus liquidwould be drained out of them. The articles would then at a furtherstation be restored to their normal or upright positions and it might bede-- sired next to trim the edges of the articles at a further station.Then it would be desirable to remove the articles still in the moulds,or perhaps to subject the articles to drying action. Obviously it isunnecessary to illustrate all these stages in the process since theyform no part of the present invention. It will be sufficient to say thatthe conveyor it passes over any convenient system of sprockets which aredisposed at any suitable intervals, and driving mechanism is ap- 7Claims. (01. 25- 29) abutment whose upper end forms a peak. The

abutments are shown at I3 and the peak on each is seen at 13* with theabutment tapered off to a fairly sharp point. Thus it will be apparentthat both the bridge members [2 and the abutments iii are supported bythe conveyor chains Ill and move forward with the conveyor. Each bridgemember receives and supports a mould carrier l 6 in which a mould forthe clay article is located, and the mould carrier is mounted in thebridge member in a freely rotatable manner. Associated with the mouldcarrier I6 is a weighted flywheel l'! at the bottom, and as the conveyorIt carries the mould carrier through the pouring station this flywheelrides against an endless "travelling belt I8 carried on pulleys I9, 20,the

belt being driven at a considerably higher speed than the conveyor I0.On leaving the pouring station the flywheel l'l moves clear of the beltl8 As indicated by the arrows the belt 2! the same speed, as the beltM3. The effect is that during the pouring of slip into the mould themould is rotated at a suitable speed in one direction, and that afterthe pouring of slip has plied to some of the sprockets from an electricceased the mould is then rotated in the opposite direction.

The slip which is to be poured into the moulds comes from a tank 25.Although for convenience in illustration this is shown as of modestdimensions it will be understood that in practice a fairly large tank isprovided. It may be at a point remote from the pouring station. The flowfrom the tank is through a pipe line 25 which may be a gravity flow, ora syphonic feed, or forced under pressure by the action of a pump or thelike. This pipe line 26 terminates at the pouring end in a length 21 offlexible tube which. is attached to a union 28 mounted on a bracketstructure .29 attached to a carriage 30 running on rollers 3| ininclined ramp rails 32, the slip delivery nozzle 33 passing through ahole 34 in the carriage. it arms 35 carrying lugs 36. It has alsoattached to it a flexible connector 38 which passes round The carriage30 has connected to i dle 43 and the flow of slip begins, the mouldcarrier being rotated meanwhile by the action of the belt l8 andfly-wheel II. This is the position shown in Figure 1. The abutments 13at each side of the bridge member l2 of this particular mould carriernow move into engagement with the lugs 36 on the arms 35 on the carriage30. The effect of this is to push the carriage up the ramp rails 32. Theoperator allows the slip to be poured until the mould has a sufficientquantity of slip in it, more than suflicient to cast the articlerequired. When this stage is reached the operator turns the handle 43back to the closed position and the pouring of slip into the mouldceases. Due to the inclination of the ramp rails it will be seen thatthe carriage and nozzle are gradually being raised as they move forwardby the action of the abutments I3 on the lugs 36. Eventually the'lugs 36are level with the peaks l3 on the abutments, and ride over the peaks,as can be seen in Figure 2 of. the drawings. When this happens thecarriage 30 and the nozzle 33 ride back down the ramp rails 32, themovement being assisted by the action of the weight 4|. The mouldcarrier meanwhile moves clear of the belt l8 and is presently acted uponby the belt 2|, while the next mould carrier moves into the pouringstation and the operation is repeated.

It will be seen that the operation is entirely unskilled. All theoperator has to do is to turn the tap on when a mould is in position,and turn it oh again when enough slip has been poured into the mould.With some kinds of article more slip will be needed than with others butthese variations can be immediately made by the operator aseach'diiferent batch comes along.

I claim: r

1. In a casting machine for pottery articles, a pouring stationcomprising a travelling conveyor, mould carriers supported on saidconveyor, inclined ramp rails mounted above said conveyor, a carriagemounted in said ramp rails, a slip pouring nozzle mounted on saidcarriage, manually operated control means for opening and closing thepouring nozzle, and complemental means on each mould carrier and thecarriage engageable to move the carriage along with the conveyor so thatthe pouring nozzle pours slip into the mould in the carrier so long as.the control means allows and until the action of the ramp rail effectsdisengagement of the means of the carriage from the means of the carrierwhereupon the carriage moves back down the ramp rails to its originalposition.

2. In a casting machine for pottery articles a fixed container for slip,a pipe line from said container leading to a pouring station, a flexibletube connected to the pipe line and to a union, a carriage supportingsaid union, a pouring nozzle attached to the union, inclined ramp railsin which the carriage is supported for to and fro travel, a travellingconveyor mounted below said carriage and pouring nozzle, a series ofmould carriers supported on the conveyor, complemental means on eachmould carrier and the carriage for causing the travel of the carriageand nozzle along the ramp rails for a limited distance with the carrier,and a manually operated control tap associated with the nozzle beingarranged to allow the flow of slip through the nozzle into a mould inthe mould carrier for a sufficient part of the distance while thecarriage and nozzle are advancin with the conveyor.

3. In a casting machine for pottery articles, a

travelling conveyor, a series of bridge members supported width-wise onthe conveyor, a mould carrier rotatably mounted in each bridge member,means for rotating the mould carriers, each about its own axis, inclinedramp rails mounted over the conveyor, a carriage mounted on the ramprails, means on each bridge member engaging with said carriage to causeit to travel along with the conveyor for a limited distance untildisengaged by the action of the inclined ramp rails, a slip pouringnozzle mounted on the carriage, a manual control'for opening and closingthe pouring nozzle, flexible tubing connected to the nozzle, and a fixednon-travelling container for slip feeding slip to the nozzle through theflexible tubing.

4. In a machine as claimed in claim 3 the provision of gravity-actingmeans for assisting the return travel of the carriage down the ramprails when disengaged from the bridge members.

5. In a machine as claimed in claim 3, the provision of a flywheel oneach mould carrier and means engaging said flywheel to impart rotationto the mould carrier in one direction while slip is poured into it andin the opposite direction after the pouring has ceased.

6. In a machine for casting pottery articles, a travelling conveyor, aseries of mould carriers mounted on said conveyor, a slip pouring nozzlemounted above the conveyor in alignment with the mould carriers, meansabove the conveyor and associated with the pouring nozzle for causingthe pouring nozzle to. advance with the conveyor for a limited distance,means controlling the flow of slip through the nozzle to allow slip tobe poured during a suflicient part of the travel of the nozzle and thento shut it 01f, means for returning the pouring nozzle in the oppositedirection at the end of its travel, and flexible means connecting saidpouring nozzle with a fixed nontravelling container for slip.

7. A machine as claimed in claim 6 in which the pouring nozzle ismounted on a carriage which travels to and fro along an inclined ramp,the forward travel of the carriage up the incline being effected bymeans associated with each mould carrier which engages with meansassociated with the carriage, and the return travel of the carriage downthe incline being effected by gravity when the aforesaid means aredisengaged from each other.

PHILIP IVOR ROBINSON.

References Cited in the flle of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 1,941,802 Howell Jan. 2, 1934 2,284,332 McCann May 26, 19422,402,655 Miller a-- June 25, 1946 2,583,842 Hendrickson Jan. 29, 1952

